Harmony
by CrazyDiamondLady
Summary: Hailey left for the ski trip in Montana with Erik. But she left too much behind. It was calling out to her. She had to come back home. To find balance. To find the right harmony. Post Season 2.
1. Dissonance

"Ouch! Motherfucker!"

"Hailey!"

Erik was following her in the ski hill and braked right beside her when he saw her trip.

"Ahhh shit!"

"You're hurt? What happened?"

"I don't know….stupid…snow…all hard and cold…"

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere…" she mumbled to herself.

"Where?" Erik repeated, worried.

"It's my shoulder…my elbow…I dunno…Can't move my arm. SHIT! How am I supposed to play if I can't move my arm?!"she suddenly yelled, panicking.

"It's all right, it's ok, let's not jump to conclusions before we know how bad it is. Let's head back to the cabin, we'll check your arm" he said calmly.

"I don't want to..." she whined.

"Does it hurt too much? Can you get up?"

"I don't want to..." Hailey repeated, more sadly.

"You don't want to get up?"

"I don't want to stop playing."

* * *

She needed to get out of there. She wanted to go home.

Erik told her she should rest her arm and wait until tomorrow but she couldn't. In the middle of the night, she got up, stayed in her PJ's because her arm hurt too much to change herself, grabbed her suitcase and left a note behind.

 _Sweet Erik,_

 _I am more homesick right now than my arm hurts._

 _Have some stuff to take care of._

 _Forgive me. I don't deserve your kindness._

 _H._

This is the kind of person she was being lately. Doing whatever she wanted, whenever she felt like it. Living the moment. Going with the flow. Listening to her own feelings, not caring about the other's. It's not that she was insensitive. It's more that she was feeling too much at the same time. She had nothing left for anyone else.

The truth was…she had no fucking clue what she was doing.

For all she knew, she was just being stupid.


	2. Cymbal Crash

"So fucking stupid!"

"Lizzie…" Bradford put his hands on her girlfriend's shoulders from behind to calm her.

Lizzie started crying and took her friend's hand. Her inanimate hand.

"You better wake up, Hail. Or I'll kick your ass."

"Ok…I don't think that's gonna help. Come, we'll let her rest instead."

For a moment, she kept her eyes on her friend on the hospital bed but she slowly turned around and followed Branford in the hallway.

"What the hell happened?"

"She…uhm…I found her outside."

"Ok…" inviting her to continue, comforting her by caressing her arm.

"I was in the kitchen and I heard a loud bang kinda noise from the stairs. She actually fell down the stairs. She texted me she was coming back home from her ski trip already cause she hurt her arm. I think she was trying to bring up her suitcase, I guess she shouldn't have tried to lift it herself. I guess she hurt her arm even more and tripped. The doctor told me she must've hit her head pretty hard."

"It's a concussion?"

"Yeah, a serious one, if she's in a coma. She had a scan already; the doctors are not that worried and said she should wake up soon…but…" Lizzie started crying again.

"It's ok. Come here." He took her into his arms.

"We never know, you know?"

"I know."

They heard a ringing tone coming from her bag.

"Shit."

"You're supposed to turn off your phone in a hospital."

"I know! It's not mine! It Hailey's…" she stopped talking when she saw who it was.

"Who is it?"

"It's uhm…It's none of your business!"

"Ok…"

"Uhm, I have to take this, ok? Oh shit!" She saw Erik turn the corner.

"What? What is it? Who's on the phone?"

"Shush! I'll be back. Go take care of him!" She pointed at Erik and answered so she wouldn't miss the call. "Hello? Hold on!"

"Hailai?"

She ran and found a bathroom.

"Hold on a sec!" she whispered. She closed and locked the door behind her.

"Hailai, are you ok?"

"Rodrigo?"

"This is not Hailai. Give me Hailai."

"It's Lizzie."

"Hey, Lizzie the roommate! Hi!"

"Hi…uhm…"

"What's wrong Lizzie? Where's Hailai? Why do you answer her phone?"

"She…can't talk right now."

"Is she ok?"

Lizzie knew that Rodrigo sincerely cared about her friend. She felt bad about hiding the truth.

"She's…in the hospital."

"What?! Lo que lo estás hablando, en el hospital? ¿Por qué? ¿Qué ha pasado? Dime ahora!"

He continued while she tried to interrupt.

"Ok, you're talking in spanish. Ok. I can't understand a word now. Ok. OK! Rodrigo! Calm down, Maestro!"

"What hospital?"

"It's ok, I'm here, and her parents are coming down from North Carolina…you don't have to come."

"Please. Lizzie. Por favor…Te lo ruego."

"All right. I'll tell you where we are…if you tell me why you called her."

"Ay…Lizzie. Why?"

"Why I wanna know?"

"Yes. Why.."

"Cause I'm her friend and I care for her. And…I think you're messing with her head. Although…something else is messing with her head right now…"

"Ok, well, I called…because I need her."

"You always say that. You always need her. This time, why do you need her?"

"Can we talk when I'm there? I need to see her."

"I know, you already said that!"

"I need her, ok? I just need her."

"Because…"

"Because when she's not there, I'm lost. Ok? She gives me light, Lizzie. She's the light. She's my light..."

Lizzie stayed silent for a while.

"Mount Sinai."

"Mount Sinai!" He hung up before saying goodbye, already on his way.

"Jesus..." She let out a sigh and unlocked the bathroom door and jumped when she found herself face to face with Brad, Erik standing right behind him.

"Jesus! Do you mind!?"

"Was that..?" Brad asked.

"Hey, Erik. It's nice to finally meet you." Lizzie said, ignoring his question.

"Hey…Yes, I wish it was under different circumstances…"

"I uhm…I don't think you need to stay. She may not wake up for a while…"

"I can stay, I don't mind."

"Actually, her parents will be here any moment now." She showed him the phone in her hand, pretending it was them on the phone, earlier. "I think it's best if we give them some privacy."

"Oh. Ok. You're probably right."

"Ok, then."

"I just wanna say…I told her to rest. Back at the cabin. I don't know why she left anyway."

"She had her reasons, I guess. Don't worry; I know it's not your fault."

"Thank you. Here. My number. In case you need something. Don't hesitate a second."

"Ok. Thank you for coming, Erik."

"Sure."

Bradford waited for him to leave before asking again.

"It was the Maestro, wasn't it?"

"What do you think? He insisted on coming to see her. That's why I had to get rid of Erik."

"It's incredible. Such a passionate man."

"Ok, groupie. Come on."

They walked back to the room.


	3. Rest

Lizzie was lightly snoozing in the seat next to the bed and Bradford was sitting on the floor, writing notes on a pad when they heard someone speak loudly in the hallway.

"Hailai Rut-e-ledge. She's my friend. She's with the girlfriend, the roommate, dark hair. Serious eyes."

"Serious eyes?!" Lizzie repeated, a little offended.

"Well…" Brad added, in his defense.

Then they both left the room to give the receptionist a break.

"Hi, Rodrigo."

"Lizzie the roommate! Where's Hailai?"

"In room 407."

"Ok. 7 is a good number. Lucky number, that's good" he said as he walked pass them, heading for the room.

"Wait! Maestro. Please. We need to talk first." She ran after him.

"I cannot explain the reasons...the light...or the connection right now. I won't concentrate, I need to see her."

"Rodrigo, she's in a coma."

He stopped just before reaching the room. He wasn't sure he heard correctly and, for a moment, his heart stopped beating.

"She's what?"

"She's unconscious."

* * *

It was a little past midnight now. Lizzie gave Rodrigo a moment with Hailey. After a while, she wanted to check on her one last time before leaving. She was going in the room but stopped herself when she looked inside.

She saw him, sitting on the edge of the chair next to the bed, almost completely leaning over her. He had taken one of her hand to his lips and the other was gently, tenderly caressing her jaw.

"Ay ay, my Hailai…what have you done…"

* * *

Her head hurt. A lot. Where was this coming from? Then she remembered. The stairs. The suitcase. The throbbing pain in her arm. The skiing. The cabin. The note.

She couldn't move her arm. It was probably in a cast or something. She slowly opened her eyes. The light wasn't too aggressive. It must be slightly before sunrise, she thought. She felt something warm on her thighs. When she looked down, she saw familiar colorful braided locks that contrasted with the faded color blanket.

He was asleep, his head in her lap. He was facing the other way. His back was slowly moving up and down. Without thinking, she started to caress his hair with her free hand. Like she did that time in the ambulance, when he broke his nose. She suddendly felt really peaceful. Whatever it was that was happening to her, and clearly something bad had happened, she didn't mind at all in that moment. Because time stopped. It was only her and him. A music rest. And probably, sadly, a brief one. Between troubled and complex notes.

At some point, it made him stir, so she quickly removed her hand. But it was too late. He was awake, now. He turned his head towards her. He gave her a puzzled look with sleepy eyes. Then reality came back to him.

"Hailai" he whispered.

She was smiling. Her head was killing her...but she was smiling.


End file.
